NCIS Sneak Peeks and Commentary: The Milestone 300th Episode

The television series that has taught a generation about the values of loyalty, integrity and dedication reaches a milestone that is truly rare in its medium.

Tonight, NCIS celebrates its 300th episode in this, its 13th year on television. Only a handful of shows have achieved such longevity, most during the early years of TV when a season was 39 episodes rather than the 20-something per year that is today’s norm.

The show’s recent commitment to do two more years should propel NCIS into the Top Ten of Longest-Running TV Shows Ever.

But, for NCIS, it is not about the quantity…it is about the quality. Week after week, the cast and crew deliver stories that make the audience laugh, cry, think outside the box, and believe in the strength of values, the goodness of humanity and staying positive, even when times are hard.

Written by producers Gary Glasberg and Gina Lucita Monreal, tonight’s episode, “Scope,” deals with the lives of those who return from the horrors of war a bit more broken than their brothers-and-sisters-in-arms.

Glasberg, whose obvious love of the written word has made me cry more than I care to admit, is sure to craft scenes that again will tear at my heartstrings, make me laugh out loud, fill my eyes with tears and take my feelings on a run through the gamut.

The emotions that we all keep in check in our daily lives are free to run without embarrassment when unleashed by Glasberg’s exploration of the human soul. He has written some of my favorite television ever, and I am sure that he will not disappoint tonight.

Tag teamed with Monreal, whose scripts have taken on weighty subjects such as MIAs in Vietnam and terrorist groups recruiting children, the potential of this episode suggests that this may be a night for the record books.

These writers know the ins-and-outs of great storytelling. Check out the clip below as the writers let Ducky (David McCallum) do what he does best…turn a simple story into sage advice for the masses…all without fanfare. Just great words and great delivery.

There should not be a dry eye in the house as Gibbs (Mark Harmon) tries to connect with Gunnery Sergeant Aaron Davis (Screen Actor Guild Award Winner, Taye Diggs), a wounded Marine being treated for PTSS at Walter Reed, who like many sufferers has walled himself off from the rest of the world having seen its horrors.

NCIS has been tasked with the investigation of an American couple who is attacked in the same area where a group of Special Ops snipers were ambushed six months prior. The Gunnery Sergeant may have information that will help NCIS find those behind the attack on the couple.

Davis, the sole survivor of the sniper melee, has been undergoing a slow, painful rehab for his traumatic injuries, and is participating in an innovative music therapy program, MusiCorps.

Tonight’s episode features a performance by the real-life MusiCorps Band whose website describes the programs as…

Formed in response to the crisis of returning service members injured in Iraq and Afghanistan, MusiCorps is a conservatory-level music rehabilitation program that helps wounded warriors play music and recover their lives.

It has been praised by the Wall Street Journal as “revolutionary,” is pioneering in the field of adaptive music, and has helped countless wounded warriors learn or relearn how to play an instrument as a core part of their rehabilitation.

Fans of CHICAGO and RENT are aware of Diggs’s musical talents which should blend him in seamlessly with the other fine musicians in the MusiCorps Band, and his acting talents will show audiences a look into the psyche of a spiraling man trying to use music as part of his journey to get his life back on track.

So, come for the incredible cast and crew, and stay for the music and a story that Harmon says will “make the hair on the back of your neck stand up,” and that Glasberg describes as having a tremendous amount of heart.

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About Melissa Smith

Melissa Smith (aka Melissa J.L. Smith Sciuto) is a 25-year veteran of Hollywood studios and production companies, including The Walt Disney Company, Universal Studios, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures Studios, NBC and Lorimar-Telepictures. Melissa has had the privilege to work with many of actors, directors, producers and shows featured on TheTVAddict. You can find her credits on iMDb at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2688300/ and follow her on Twitter @melissasmiths.

Beth Dane

You always write such insightful articles about NCIS. I think they should hire you as a writer!